Page 29 of Malevolent Secrets

We slowly manage to get dressed again. The silence between us is companionable, however, I find myself relaxing into it. I like spending time with her, which is terrible news overall. I can’t possibly justify this to Vincent.

“Come along,” I tell her, reaching out toward her. She smiles and takes my hand, allowing me to tug her after me back down the hall and through the club until we’re outside in the cool air again.

I send a valet to get my car and then I tug her into my side. My fingers run over her shoulder softly as she leans against me.

We get into my car and I drive us downtown. I pay another valet to park my car and I take her inside a tiny, charming Italian place that belongs to some of my father’s friends from the old days. They usher us back to a private room and pour us my favorite red wine without being asked.

“Such service,” she says with an appreciative smile as she sips on her wine.

I admire the heavy-lidded look that she’s giving me. How could this woman have ended up with Jeremy? She’s far too much woman for him. I can barely keep up with her. I can’t imagine Jeremy being enough for such a queenly specimen.

“I’ve been coming here since I was a small child,” I tell her. “The owners are like family.”

“Which kind of family?” she asks.

I lift a brow at this and take a sip of my wine. “Smart girl,” I praise. “Not that kind,” I assure her.

She relaxes a little in her chair. “I see.”

“Dani,” I say to her. “You said when we met that you needed answers about someone who had died. Have you found those answers?”

Her face freezes for just a moment, and I watch as she forces a bland look back onto her face. “No,” she says with a shrug. “It’s fine. I just wanted closure, I guess.”

I war with myself. Do I tell her that I knew Jeremy? Do I ask her what she really wants to know? I immediately talk myself out of doing that. Just being around me puts her at risk. If she learned about Jeremy, she would be in even more danger. In this case, her ignorance will be her bliss.

“I hope that you come to find it,” I say to her, the sentiment genuine.

A waiter arrives with menus and I look away from the beautiful woman at the table with me to read the menu.

“I’ll have the Arancine,” she says. “And keep the wine coming.”

I nod my approval. The Sicilian fare on the menu is made with old family recipes, and it is to die for. I order my usual and gesture for the waiter to top up our wine glasses before he goes to put in our order.

“So, tell me how you ended up here in the Windy City,” I say to her.

She laughs. “Oh, I came here to become a famous and rich advertising executive.” She rolls her eyes.

“You’re young,” I say. “You still have plenty of time to do that.”

Her laugh is a touch bitter and she shakes her head, making her long hair dance around her. “Fat chance. The advertising world is full of men who think women should still be at home having babies.”

I frown a little. While I don’t have any women in my army of family operatives, most of the management at each of my businesses is handled by women. I hate hearing how defeated she already sounds about her prospects in life.

“Maybe you just haven’t found the right place to work,” I tell her.

She snorts, and the sound makes me smile. “Yeah, sure,” she agrees. “Maybe pigs will fly, too.”

I chuckle with her, enjoying the comfort between us. She’s a delight, as smart as she is funny and I wish that I didn’t like spending time with her so much.

By the time we finish dinner, I’m contemplating having her come back to my place again. I unlock my car and open my mouth to invite her over, when my phone rings. I scowl. I told my staff not to bother me. If someone is calling me, there’s an issue.

“What?” I say when I answer the phone. The number belongs to one of the many burner phones that I give to my guards and I recognize the voice of one of my older and most trusted security team on the phone.

“Boss, there’s trouble at the factory near the docks. I don’t have a lot of details, but we need your help.”

“Be there shortly,” I say and hang up. I look regretfully over at Dani. I was so looking forward to fucking her again.

“Something wrong?” she asks me, her mouth pulled down into a little frown.

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